Bill Blotter: Don't Forget the Little Guys

April 25, 2005 — -- Each week the Bill Blotter seeks to highlight bills across the country affecting all Americans, and this includes "the little guys" -- pets and children. The California Senate voted last week to ban hunters from killing animals over the Internet (who knew?), a bill in Washington state would make animal abuse a felony, and the Tennessee House and Senate have unanimously passed an anti-bullying bill.

While many who use the Internet on a daily basis are no longer surprised by its endless possibilities, www.live-shot.com is a whole new, well, hunting game. The site allows members to use a Webcam and their keyboard and mouse to hunt animals on a farm in Texas. Now, California lawmakers have voted to ban it.

The bill would ban remote hunting in California and would bar anyone from operating such a Web site within state borders.

The Web site, which appears to be the only one in this remote hunting genre, links a paying customer sitting at a computer with a gun at a remote "secluded" facility in Texas. Paying members can "schedule a reserved session time which allows exclusive control of the shooting system to fire at a choice of various reactive targets," according to the site.

The California bill, which now goes to the state Assembly, would also ban importing animals that have been killed through such a Web site.

There are discussions in 14 other states considering a similar bills.

The state legislature in Washington unanimously passed a bill to make animal neglect a felony instead of a misdemeanor.

The bill, awaiting Gov. Christine Gregoire's signature, would make it a felony for anyone to intentionally starve or suffocate an animal, thus causing it to suffer or die.

Those found guilty could face as much as a year in jail. Previously, a fine and some probation served as punishment.

Pasado's Safe Haven, an animal rescue organization in Sultan, Wash., inspired the bill when it brought the dozens of cases it sees each year to the attention of state lawmakers.